May 23, 2007       

SIU Med School Announces Research Symposium Awards  

Eleven medical and graduate students and resident physicians received top awards in the 17th annual Trainee Research Symposium at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. 

Sponsored by the School and SIU’s chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha, the symposium offers medical students, graduate students and residents in Springfield an opportunity to gain experience in making formal presentations of their research findings.  Faculty advisors provided assistance for each project. 

The top three projects in each category, as judged by a panel of faculty, received monetary prizes.  The projects were judged on several criteria -- preliminary data and research approach, research design, project creativity, originality and the project’s potential scientific or medical significance.

The first-place medical student winner was Holly Hoefgen, a junior from Martinsville, for her project, “Stem Cell Chemotasix in Ovarian Cancer Cells.”  Her faculty advisor was Mary McAsey, Ph.D., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology.  The second-place medical student winner was Kathy Lynch, a senior from Charleston, for her project, “Wait Times and Patient Satisfaction in an Adult Neurology Clinic: The Impact of Residents.”  Her faculty advisor was Dr. M. Steven Evans, professor of neurology.  Tied for third place were Glenn Bloom and Adree Venatta.  Bloom is a senior medical student from Vista, Calif.  His project was “Acute Anhydrous Ammonia Injury from Accidents during Illicit Methamphetamine Production.”  Patricia Hopkins-Price, assistant professor of pulmonary medicine, was his faculty advisor.  Venatta is a sophomore from Toledo.  Her project was “In vitro Transdifferentiation of Mesenchymal and Hematopoietic Stem Cells into Dopaminergic Neurons.”  McAsey was her faculty advisor.

The first-place graduate student winner was Fanting Wu, a medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology graduate student from Shanghai, China, for her project, “Identification of MicroRNA-21 Direct Target Genes.”  Her faculty advisor was Yin-Yuan Mo, Ph.D., associate professor of medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology.  

The second-place winner was Mike Flister, a medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology graduate student from Antioch, for his project, “Transcriptional Regulation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3 (VEGFR-3) in Inflammatory Lymphangiogenesis.”  His faculty advisor was Sophia Ran, Ph.D., assistant professor of medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology.  Third place went to Siying Peng, a medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology graduate student from Harbin, China, for her project, “Identification of Molecular Mechanisms Responsible for c-Maf Regulation of CD4 T Cell Apoptosis.”  Her faculty advisor was Mary Pauza, Ph.D., associate professor of medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology. 

The first-place resident physician winner was Dr. Mohammed Parvez, an internal medicine resident from Hyderabad, India, for his project, “Trends in Responses to Self-Treatment of Diarrhea among International Travelers.”  His faculty advisor was Dr. Janak Koirala, associate professor of infectious diseases.  The second-place winner was Dr. Bill Parsley, a surgery resident from Smithville, Tenn., for his project, “Effects of Femoral Head Size on Serum Cobalt and Chromium Levels Following Hip Resurfacing with the Coret 2000.”  His faculty advisor was Dr. D. Gordon Allan, associate professor of surgery.  The tied third-place awards went to Dr. Kishore Maganty, a gastroenterology resident from Hyderabad, India, for his project “Role of HIDA Scan in Chronic Cholecystitis in Ambulatory Setting: A Retrospective Study,” and Dr. Leslie Smith, a surgery resident from Herrin, for her project “An Interactive Method for Teaching and Verifying Proficiency of Intra-Operative Decision Making.”   Maganty’s faculty advisor was Dr. Howard Chodash, associate professor of gastroenterology.  Faculty advisor for Smith was Dr. Gary Dunnington, professor and chair of surgery. 

Judges for this year’s symposium were Andrzej Bartke, Ph.D., professor of internal medicine and physiology; Dr. M. Steven Evans, professor of neurology; McAsey; Pauza; Dr. Jacquelyn Quin, associate professor of surgery; Ran; Dr. Laura Rogers, associate professor of medicine; Dr. Bradley Schwartz, associate professor of surgery; Robert Struble, Ph.D., associate professor of pathology, psychiatry and neurology; and Shelley Tischkau, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology. 

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NOTE TO EDITOR: Holly Hoefgen is the daughter of Rita Hollingsworth of Martinsville;  Kathy Lynch is the daughter of Thomas and Janet Lynch of Charleston; Glenn Bloom is the son of Myron and Dina Heggie of Vista, Calif.; and Adree Venatta is the daughter of Cliff and Beth Long of Toledo and Cliff Long of Henry; Mike Flister is the son of Gail Flister of Antioch; Dr. Bill Parsley is the son of Bill and Janice Parsley of Smithville, Tenn.; and Dr. Leslie Smith is the daughter of Charlotte Smith of Greenville, N.C., and Kendal Smith of Washington, D.C.